


Street Food

by Daegaer



Category: Fix Bay'nets - George Manville Fenn
Genre: 19th Century, Culture Shock, Food, Gen, Soldiers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-03-28
Updated: 2005-03-28
Packaged: 2018-11-21 10:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11355900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: Gedge tries Indian food.





	Street Food

"Get in line, there!" cried Sergeant Gee. "No talking! You, sir, get that rifle butt out of the dust!"

"We on duty or ain't we?" muttered one of the soldiers next to Gedge.

"Dunno," muttered Gedge. "I'm sure as I heard something about us bein' dismissed a while back. Old Gee jest likes the sound of his own voice." He fell silent as the fearsome young sergeant's gaze swept across the ranks. At last the order to fall out was given, and the local traders, who had been waiting for just this moment, swarmed across to ply their wares. One of Gedge's friends accepted a large leaf wrapped round some food, and took a large bite of the filling, spitting it out almost at once into the dust.

"Strewth!" that soldier cried. "S'orrible! S'filth, is what it is!"

"'Ere, don't throw it out," said Gedge. "Gimme a taste before I wastes me own money on some."

"You can 'ave it all," said the soldier, passing the food over in disgust.

Gedge, who always felt to some degree hungry, ate a cautious mouthful. "It ain't so bad," he thought, and then the true nature of the native spices caught him in the back of the throat and he coughed and coughed. "Lor'," he gasped, "but that's 'ot!" Another trader ran forward, smiling politely, and offered him a cup of what Gedge took to be milk. Giving the man a small coin, Gedge wiped his streaming eyes and took a large gulp of the cooling liquid, finding it to be not milk but some mild and slightly salty drink. The burning in his mouth subsided and he regarded the rest of the food with suspicion, handing it at last to one of the small children that swarmed about the soldiers. "I reckon it'll take some getting' used to," he thought, looking about him with interest. "But I'm glad I tried, all the same. Who wants to come to India an' jest pretend as they never left England?" He resolved he should make the most of being so far from home and try other native foods, although, as he told himself, not till his poor mouth and throat had quite recovered from the roasting they had so recently undergone.


End file.
